The A’s vs. Texas? If it’s in a pressure-packed playoff race, you know how it’ll end (Texas whiffs, A’s win)

OAKLAND—When does a tie atop the AL West seem more like the start of a rout?

When it’s the A’s chasing down the Texas Rangers in September, when the music is playing at the Coliseum, when the Rangers are missing balls in center field, and when the playoff race starts feeling exceedingly familiar.

That’s how it went yet again during the A’s emotional 4-2 victory over the Rangers on Monday.

All momentum kept flowing to the A’s, and away from Texas, just as it did during the A’s come-from-behind charge to the AL West title
in 2012.

Just as it’s meant to be, it seems like.

Yep, the Rangers, who led the division by 3 ½ games only 11 days ago, could end up trailing the A’s by two games at the end of this series on Wednesday.

They might start playing for one of the AL wild-card spot right about then, realistically.

The Rangers know it, the A’s know it, and right now it’s hard to expect anything else.

After sweeping the Rangers in the final series last year to capture the West, and now as they barrel into October, do the A’s feel like they have a mental edge on Texas?

“You’ve always got to have that mental edge, always feel like we’re the best team, you know? Sometimes that’s what it takes, just that little bit of an edge and it gets you on top.”

Balfour said that with a giant wrap on his right arm and while also documenting his struggle to record the save.

He gave up a walk and a single, said he was “running on fumes” and had no fastball, but still survived.

Because he’s the A’s closer and the A’s just don’t get beat by the Rangers at the end if it matters.

“Sometimes you’ve got to find a little extra will in games like this, pretty high-intensity,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.

“You end up putting yourself in position where you have no room and you have to make a pitch and that’s when you just have to find that extra gear.”

For the last two seasons, almost uniquely in critical match-ups against the A’s, that’s a gear that the Rangers have been unable to find.

The most memorable instance came on the last day of the 2012 regular season at the Coliseum, when since-departed Ranger center fielder Josh Hamilton whiffed on a routine fly ball to allow two A’s runs in an epic six-run fourth inning.

And on Sunday: Current Texas center fielder Leonys Martin whiffed on his attempt to field Chris Young’s single, which allowed a run to score and gave the A’s a 2-0 lead in the second.

Two whiffs, to losses, to A’s celebrations.

Monday, Texas came back to tie the game on David Murphy’s two-run shot off of Dan Straily.

But still, this was the A’s vs. Texas.

So the A’s got a two-run homer from Coco Crisp in the fifth and cobbled together a solid nine innings from Straily, Dan Otero, Brian Anderson, Ryan Cook and Balfour.

And tied for the lead in the AL West.

Along the way, premium A’s prospect Michael Choice made his major-league debut, Yoenis Cespedes hit a home run, and Brett Anderson looked good in relief as the A’s wild-card arm.

Meanwhile Texas had its issues, and now must face Bartolo Colon and Jarod Parker to finish this series.

Everybody’s feeling the pressure. The A’s just are dealing with it.

“Pressure’s not quite the right word,” Straily said. “But definitely you come out there and you understand the magnitude of the situation.

“And you’re very determined to get your job done.”

Before the game, Texas manager Ron Washington set up the back-stretch scenario by also giving the A’s a public nod.

No matter how this series turns out, Washington said, there are many games to left to play… but because the A’s won the division last year, they are the team to beat.

“Division champs over there–I don’t expect them to go away and I certainly don’t expect us to go away,” Washington said.

“Everything goes through Oakland.”

Was that, I asked Melvin right afterwards, Washington maybe trying to put a target on the A’s back?

“Well… if that’s what he’s trying to do,” Melvin said with a smile after lauding Texas, “I’ll flip it back to him.”

No, the pressure and the targets don’t seem to matter in this match-up. When the A’s play the Rangers in a pennant race, the results are just about inevitable:

Texas got a much tougher Sept schedule. Over half their games vs teams above .500/ Besides the 6 vs Texas, the A’s don’t play any teams above .500

sliver1925

Cheese, Tim! Nothing like putting the team on the spot. Last year may have been my most thrilling rooting experience in baseball since old Casey led the 1948 Oaks to the PCL Pennant. So, as you can tell, I go back a ways. But to take this Texas team for granted when everything is still up for grabs is perhaps a premature counting of our chickens. The team looks like its beginning to jell again. Hitting (even Cespedes) is coming around and if Bartolo and Parker deliver then we will definitely have a leg up. But lets just wait awhile before we exhale. Lots of baseball left. As the old radio guy Les Keiter once warned, “you never know in baseball!” Very, very true!

JarvisorBUST

“Two whiffs, to losses, to A’s celebrations.” – I’m not sure how you started with the right “two” and devolved into the wrong one.